Great diving only a non-stop flight from BWI/Washington?

[Ron G.]

We've taken several dive trips to the usual places: Cozumel, Roatan, Little Cayman, Bonaire. We had a great time, but don't like having to take 6:00 a.m. (first-leg) flights. In fact, we don't like having to make a stop anywhere or anytime.

We'd like to try another destination with very good diving, but accessible via a non-stop flight from BWI or one of the Washington DC airports.

I know that Southwest (who we like) now flies non-stop to Aruba, Cancun, Montego Bay and Nassau, but none of them seems to have the caliber of diving as good as where we've been. (We have flown into Cancun and done the bag-drag to Cozumel, but we're not crazy about that either, although I did prefer it to making a connection in the U.S.)

I'm sure there are other non-stop destinations out of the 3 airports we have convenient access to.

Any suggestions....both for destinations and specific resorts?

Thanks.

Ron

 

[tursiops]

I'm sure there are other non-stop destinations out of the 3 airports we have convenient access to.

Not much. Try flyhere.com to find out where the non-stops are that leave from one of the three area airports. Not anywhere you really want to go to! Note that Flyhere does not show Southwest (they don't play nice with others) but I think it is complete otherwise, although I'm not sure about JetBlue's inclusion.

Note that DCA has a 1250 mile flight restriction (except for a few slots) so draw a 1250-mile circle around DC and that pretty much says where you can get to from DCA. The only international exemption to the distance limit is JetBlue's flights to San Juan.

United from IAD might get you to St Martin or St Thomas.

You are REALLY limiting yourself by requiring non-stops. Maybe you could compromise by allowing direct flights? Then you've got some options on American through Miami, for example.

Given your list of places you've enjoyed (Coz, Roatan, Little Cayman, Bonairie), your biggest problem is going to be finding something equal....non-stop or not!

 

[ibj40]

Have you considered Bermuda? I went there once, been several years, but loved the diving and the island(s).

 

[robint]

Not much. Try flyhere.com to find out where the non-stops are that leave from one of the three area airports. Not anywhere you really want to go to! Note that Flyhere does not show Southwest (they don't play nice with others) but I think it is complete otherwise, although I'm not sure about JetBlue's inclusion.

Note that DCA has a 1250 mile flight restriction (except for a few slots) so draw a 1250-mile circle around DC and that pretty much says where you can get to from DCA. The only international exemption to the distance limit is JetBlue's flights to San Juan.

United from IAD might get you to St Martin or St Thomas.

You are REALLY limiting yourself by requiring non-stops. Maybe you could compromise by allowing direct flights? Then you've got some options on American through Miami, for example.

Given your list of places you've enjoyed (Coz, Roatan, Little Cayman, Bonairie), your biggest problem is going to be finding something equal....non-stop or not!

you have already hit the BEST in Caribbean. No place is going to compare to those underwater.

 

[Damselfish]

Which is more important to you, a nonstop/direct flight or the dive destination? It seems like you might need to compromise.

Do you dislike the general hassle of changing planes/rushing/potential missed connections/luggage issues, etc? Or do you mostly not like starting out obnoxiously early to do it in one day? (Which is sadly a fact of life from most northeast airports to most dive destinations.)

If you mostly hate to get up obnoxiously early, and have the time - consider leaving the afternoon before and making an overnight stopover on the way. We've found that it's often a much more relaxing way to start a vacation. Leave at a civilized time, have a nice dinner, relax and get a good nights sleep. Then head to your next flight in the morning at what will be a much more reasonable time. Obviously this is quite the opposite of finding a direct flight from home, but you might find it's a good alternative. Or not.

If you find changing planes in a non-mainland airport less problematic to you, you could look into flying into San Juan and see where you can get to from there on one of the regional airlines. Like Dominica? (Or drive to the western end of PR and check out the diving there, but I'm not really clear how it rates.) Or maybe Barbados if you can get there direct, which is another regional hub of sorts. I don't know if this is less hassle than going through someplace like Miami or Atlanta, but it's maybe different hassles, anyway. If you just hate going through airports like Miami, and who doesn't, have you tried Charlotte? It's relatively civilized for a hub airport and could give you some options, Belize comes to mind.

If you can get to St Martin, you might find you can get someplace good from there. Perhaps Saba, by plane or ferry. Or Dominica again. Or do the Caribbean Explorer liveaboard?

or, direct flight to Phoenix, then take the 4 hour shuttle to the Rocio Del Mar liveaboard? I'd guess biggest problem there might be getting spots on the boat. I don't know if any others leave from the north or if they all leave from Cabo.

 

[Ron G.]

Thanks, everyone, for your responses.

Responding to Damselfish's questions:

- Personally, my major issue is with the 6:00 a.m. departure. The DC airports (where those flights typically depart from) is an hour's drive for us. That means we get up at 2:00 a.m., so we can be at the airport by 4:00 a.m. I really hate that.

- As for the issue with connecting flights, my wife and I both hate the stress of worrying that we'll miss a connecting flight....thereby creating major complications with the start of our vacation. In fact, I prefer the hassle of the Cancun "bad drag" en route to Cozumel. When we take a non-stop into Cancun, i feel like nothing will keep me from reaching my resort on Day One....in fact, it's almost fun going through the adventure of the shuttle and ferry. (Having said that, we took that route last Christmas with our son and DIL....and our six month old granddaughter. Schlepping the little baby and all our stuff....including her car seat, porta-crib, etc. raised the aggravation level a bit....but, I'd do it that way again.)

- My wife dislikes the stress of the connection (and the bag drag), but her big complaint is that we spend "the whole first and last day traveling". I understand that, but (for me) the days in between are worth it. That would definitely rule out the idea of stretching the trip into two days in each direction.

We went to the Dom. Republic in July. Non-stop. Our flight didn't leave BWI until 8:45 a.m., we were there in 3-4 hours. Nothing to it. I was just hoping that there would be very good dive destinations that might not get the attention that Coz, Roatan, etc. get....maybe because they're more expensive. Our favorite place was probably the Little Cayman Beach Resort. A little more expensive than some of the others, but great diving, great dive op, great food, nice rooms....but, it took three planes to get there.

My favorite place is Coz. Great diving. Very reasonable cost. Non-stop to Cancun. Interesting town to wander around in. My wife just likes to try new places. We've been to Coz many times, mostly diving, but sometimes we take the family for a non-diving holiday.

Thanks, again.

Ron

 

[Doc]

Good diving? I like your list, but I would also question really how much of Roatan you have seen? Most folks only dive the West/North zone, few have been to the South side, totally different worlds, either and both.

Here's a real interesting option- the Outer Islands of the Bahamas. Oh rats, you'd have to make a stop in Nassau (before quickly exiting), but worth it.

San Salvador is a delightful dive destination, seldom visited.

 

[diversteve]

From Dulles you can get to St. Thomas direct. 8:35AM United flight most weekends. Fares are all over the place - from $440-960.



Once there take a cab 10mins. to the ferry port then the fast ferries over to the BVI's. It's an hour to Tortola, slightly more to some of the other islands. You can also take a cab (van shuttle) to Red Hook then the ferry over. Virgin Islands Ferry Schedule

There's some good diving there - on par with anything but primary dive destinations like Cayman or Coz. It's all boat diving but none of it is very far. We liked DiveBVI but they're on Virgin Gorda which is another hour or so by ferry. The Rhone is the signature wreck off Salt Island, and more of the diving is in the other islands in that area. We dove all over all week and none of the boat rides were an hour - some closer to 15mins. bviscuba.org has most of the details.

Diving off both islands is generally shallower, lots of soft corals and fans. We almost always saw a shark or two daily in the BVI's and turtles. Off the Dog Islands north of Tortola there's an interesting mix of Caribbean and Atlantic species - I filmed barracuda hitting a bait ball off Seal Dog Rock some years ago. I understand from a recent TR that it's still there.

The BVI's are a little upscale - the appeal there is sailing. So Virgin Gorda at least is a little pricier. One nice thing if you travel with the whole family is there are stunning beaches there - some only accessible by boat. So you have the entire beach to yourselves. There's even some small islands you can get to via a rental boat that are going to be just your group and maybe one or two others. The Baths on the south side of Virgin Gorda is world famous. Welcome to the Official Website of the BVI Tourist Board

Some of St. Thomas isn't bad either. South of Charlotte Amalie there's a lot of wrecks. Off the Cays to the east is shallower diving - dive ops are in both areas. From Red Hook you can "drive" (car ferry) to St. John - takes about 1/2 hr. There's some shore diving there and two operators do day trips from there over to the BVI's. One does the Rhone as an all day trip with lunch.